Carpet-sweeper



T. S. PAGE. -Oarpet-SWeeper.

No.- 229,174. Patented June 22,1880.

L .ZMG vi fim M @155 02% gel? N PETERS, PHOTO-LITMOGRAF HER, WASHXNGYD nO UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

THOMAS S. PAGE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CARPET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,174, dated June 22,1880.

Application filed December 27, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. PAGE, of the city of Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Carpet-Sweepers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates mainly to the construction of the parts whichhold the rotating brush of carpet-sweepers; and its nature will fullyappear from the following description and the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure l is an outside perspective view of my improvedcarpet-sweeper; Fig. 2, a crosssection of the same; Fig. 3, a horizontalsection upon the plane of the brush-spindle; Fig. 4, a detail view ofthe slotted segment whereto the swinging arms in which the brush pivotsare journaled, and Fig. 5 a detail View of one of said swinging arms.

Like letters of reference made use of in the several figures indicatelike parts wherever used.

In said drawings, A represents the case or box of the sweeper, havingthe usual handle A and hinged cover a. B B are the'rollers, with pivotsb I) inserted in the ends of the case.

0 is the rotating brush, to the ends of the spindles whereof are appliedrubber or other good friction-producin g surfaces 0, which come incontact with the rollers, and thereby cause the friction which operatesthe brush. These friction-surfaces c are not both absolutely necessary,as sufficient friction to insure rotation of the brush may be obtainedfrom one of the rollers; but I prefer to employ the power at both ends,because thereby the rotation is not affected by the temporary breakingof contact between one of the rollers and the brush-spindle, which maysometimes happen with my construction.

The pivots cl of the brush are journaled in open-mouthed slots 6 inswinging arms E. These arms swingon pivots f upon the segments F, ofwhich there is one at either end, and which are secured to the case byscrews f. These segments are slotted at f, and through such slot ispassed a screw, f which is driven in so as to hold the segment in anyposition to which it may be adjusted within the range of movementpermitted by the slot. ()fcourse the adjustment may be changed as oftenas necessary. These segments are located outside the case, as preferred;but it is desirable that the pivots of the arms E should in every casebe located above the axis of the rollers, because thereby it becomesfeasible to lower the brush as its bristles wear off without impairingthe friction-gripe upon the rollers, the location of the contact alonebeing changed. The arms E being thus pivoted at one end, the other endsare free to rise and fall, and of course they and the brush which theycarry obey natural laws and fall by their gravity, thus exertingpressure through the brush upon the surfaces of the rollers. I find thatthe pressure thus exerted is sufficient to cause the rotation of thebrush under ordinary circumstances; but if insufficient it maybeincreased by springs or added weight.

In order that the arms may not be thrown out of place, I limit theirmovement by providing them with an upward extension, 6, and attach.thereto a spring, 6 which is secured at one end to the case. Thisspring may be sotensioned as to resist the upward movement of the armmerely, or so it may exert a pull upon the arm, which will increase thepressure upon the roller, as above suggested.

My purpose in thus suspending the brush in yielding bearings is topermit the brush to accommodate itself to the surface being swept.

Inequalities in the floor, when they are such L as to overcome theresistance offered by the bristles, tend to injure the brush where it isrigidly held by stationary bearings by bendin g down the bristles, andeven if the brush in that construction continues its rotation whilepassing over uneven places it is ineffective, because the bristles arebent down by the raised portions of the carpet and cannot work. In myconstruction the yield permitted to the brush obviates in great measurethe bending of the bristles.

My construction enables me to greatly simplify the sweeper and reducethe number of moving parts. It is thus much cheapened and rendered moredurable and less likely to become disorganized.

I employ open slots for the bearings of the brush, because that greatlyfacilitates insertion and removal of the brush. A further feature,tending to facilitate the same operation brush, a roller at each endoperating the brush by frictional contact therewith, and swinging armsattached to the box by adjustable pivots 15 and affording bearin gs forthe brush, said arms being depressed by gravity or spring force, orboth, to keep constant the contact between rollers and brush,substantially as specified.

THOMAS S. PAGE.

Witnesses Enw. S. EVAR'IS, JOHN W. MUNDAY.

